NYCC 2021: Dragon Ball Super Heroes, High Guardian Spice, FreakAngels and more

New York Comic-Con is not quite a big deal as its older sibling San-Diego Comic-Con. However, in 2021 NYCC returned as an in-person event, unlike its West Coast equivalent. Although virtual panels were still held, fans were welcomed to wander the halls of the Javits Center once more. NYCC always leads to a host of brand new announcements, and 2021 is no exception.

Perhaps the biggest anime news of the event was the revealing of the first trailer of the new Dragon Ball Super movie, Super Hero.  It had been teased at the time of its original announcement that the new movie would feature a new visual style. This first trailer reveals it is to be the first Dragon Ball movie to be animated in 3D CG. Players of the more recent Dragon Ball video games will be familiar with the visual technique used here. The cel-shaded look makes the leap from the games to the anime version for the first time, and potentially starts a new era for Akira Toriyama's hit franchise. The film is scheduled to be released theatrically in 2022, but we're still some way off from finding out more specific details.

After revealing new details about Blade Runner Black Lotus and Shenmue The Animation, Crunchyroll has been spilling more information about their growing slate of originals.  High Guardian Spice, a tribute to magical girl anime (with a bit of Harry Potter thrown in for good measure) from creator Raye Rodriguez is the first production of the new in-house Crunchyroll Studios in Califonia (although Onyx Equinox was actually released first). It was announced that the series will arrive on October 26 with all 12 episodes. Crunchyroll also released a new trailer and revealed the main characters and voice cast.

• Rosemary, the enthusiastic adventurer intent on becoming a Guardian. (Briana Leon)

• Sage, Rosemary’s best friend and witch who specializes in Old Magic.  (Lauren White)

• Parsley, an optimistic dwarf and expert blacksmithy. (Amber Romero) 

• Thyme, an independent elf and gifted archer. (Michelle Deco) 

• Mandrake, a powerful witch and shapeshifter. (AJ Beckles)

• Professor Hakone, a Guardian and professor of battle tactics. (Anthony Brandon Walker)

• Parnelle, the youngest student at High Guardian Academy. (Barbara Goodson)

• Neppy Cat, a cat that hangs out near High Guardian Academy with a secret ability. (Cam Clarke)

• Snapdragon, snarky best friend of Amaryllis who doesn’t feel like he truly fits in,. (Julia Kaye)

• Slime Boy, a second year witch who is a musician and lover of monsters  (Julian Koster)

• Amaryllis, an entitled witch and school bully. (Katie McVay)

• Lavender, Rosemary’s mother and a renowned and powerful Guardian who went missing four years ago. (Liisa Lee)

• Professor Caraway, a powerful Guardian and professor of sacred alphabets at High Guardian Academy. (Raye Rodriguez)

SYNOPSIS: 

The  lives  of  four  fierce  girls  converge  at  High  Guardian  Academy,  the  one  place where  they  can  stumble  comically  toward  adulthood  while  becoming  the  heroes they've  always  admired.  As  they  master  the  ways  of  battle  and  sorcery,  the foursome form allegiances, uncover legacies, face betrayals and discover their true identities while preparing to protect the world from an ominous unknown threat.

Crunchyroll also revealed a new trailer for another new Original series, FreakAngels. Based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Warren Ellis (Castlevania) and illustrated by Paul Duffield, the series will arrive in 2022.

SYNOPSIS: 

Welcome to Whitechapel: last bastion of humanity. Six years ago, the world “ended” in a single, apocalyptic event, trapping Great Britain behind a mysterious dome of purple energy. London’s last neighborhood has persevered thanks to the protection of the “FreakAngels” — a small group of psychically-powered twenty-three-year-olds. Their fragile peace becomes threatened, however, when an exiled friend returns, exposing past conspiracies and new conflicts within their fractured, makeshift family. Can Whitechapel survive?

Funimation announced that they will release the eagerly awaited conclusion to the Eureka Seven movie trilogy Hi-Evolution in cinemas in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in 2022.

 

The conclusion to the cinematic trilogy is almost here!

EUREKA: EUREKA SEVEN HI-EVOLUTION is headed to theaters in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in 2022!

Find out more: https://t.co/7b5F6MnYo4 pic.twitter.com/5EQuLRYook

— Funimation (@Funimation) October 7, 2021

Funimation also announced that the previously announced new sci-fi romance Sing A Bit Of Harmony will arrive in cinemas in January 2022 in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The film is written and directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura, who previously brought us Patema Inverted and Time Of Eve.

Synopsis

Sing a Bit of Harmony tells the story of the beautiful and mysterious Shion (Tao Tsuchiya) who transfers to Keibu High School where she quickly becomes popular for her open-hearted personality and exceptional athletic talent... but she turns out to be an AI (artificial intelligence) in the testing phase! Shion's goal is to bring chronic loner Satomi (Haruka Fukuhara) “happiness.” But her strategy is something no human would expect: she serenades Satomi in the middle of the classroom. After finding out that Shion is an AI, Satomi and her childhood friend, engineering geek Toma (Asuka Kudo), steadily warm up to the new student. Along with the popular and attractive Gotchan (Kazuyuki Okitsu), the strong-willed Aya (Mikako Komatsu), and judo club member "Thunder" (Satoshi Hino), they become more and more moved by Shion's singing voice and earnestness even as her antics bewilder them. But what Shion does for Satomi's sake ends up involving them all in some serious pandemonium… Get ready for the heartwarming story of a not quite market-ready AI and her classmates